Labour positions itself as party of soft Brexit

The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party has announced a dramatic shift in its policy on Brexit, arguing that to protect jobs, Britain must remain in the EU's single market and customs union in a transitional period beyond March 2019.

The shift draws a clear dividing line between Labour and Theresa May's Conservatives, who have made controlling EU immigration and the ability to negotiate trade deals with other countries the top priorities in their Brexit negotiation strategy. With Labour's vision of a transitional deal much simpler to deliver — and time ticking by in the Brexit talks, which resume next week — it will put pressure on the government to demonstrate it can deliver a bespoke deal on customs arrangements with a skeptical EU.

The move — which positions Labour firmly as the party of soft Brexit — in effect means it wants minimal change in the years immediately after the U.K. leaves the bloc. It would mean a continuation of free movement; ongoing payments into the EU budget for years; continued acceptance of European Court of Justice jurisdiction; and no new ability for the U.K. to strike its own trade deals with other countries during the transition.

Once such a status-quo transition is over, the party now says it is also leaving open the possibility of staying within the customs union and single market for good.

In an op-ed piece for the Observer, the party's shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, says: "Labour would seek a transitional deal that maintains the same basic terms that we currently enjoy with the EU," adding, "No 'constructive ambiguity.' No mixed messages."

Corbyn himself campaigned for the U.K. to stay within the EU but was widely seen as a reluctant Remainer. His ambiguous stance during the election campaign appeared to pay off though with both the party's Euroskeptic northern voters and pro-Remain urban voters sticking with Labour. But with the party's union backers now raising fears about the impact of leaving the single market and customs union on jobs, the Labour leadership appears to have decided that a soft Brexit policy will allow them to capitalize on growing voter dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the Brexit talks.

In his op-ed, Starmer is scathing about the government's "fanciful and unachievable proposals" for a bespoke transitional customs arrangement with the EU that were set out in a position paper earlier this month. He says that trying to thrash out such a deal with the EU would take up valuable negotiating time that should be devoted to getting a good long-term settlement.

"[Our proposals are] a grown-up acknowledgment that bespoke transitional arrangements are highly unlikely to be negotiated, agreed and established in the next 18 months," he writes, adding, "It would enable negotiations to focus on the central Brexit issue: the nature of the new partnership that needs to be built between the U.K. and the EU. This is challenging enough without having to negotiate separate transitional arrangements at the same time."

A transition within the single market and customs union would also mean minimal disruption for business and allow more time to resolve the complex issue of the Northern Irish border, he argues.

The government has advocated a transitional period lasting no longer than the next election — scheduled for 2022. Starmer says a transition should be, "as short as possible, but as long as is necessary. It cannot become a kind of never-ending purgatory."

Chuka Umunna, a Labour MP and supporter of Open Britain, which has advocated a soft Brexit, said: “This will rightly pile the pressure on the government to put membership of the single market and the customs union at the heart of their negotiating strategy. Anything else will be bad news for our economy, jobs, public services and social justice.”